Blog Tour: Shore Excursion

Welcome to the Shore Excursion stop for Unabridged Bookshelf!

Thank you to the amazing Tribute Books for asking me to be a part of this tour. 

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I do apologize because this post should have been up yesterday morning!!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Shore Excursion

Author: Marie Moore

Series: Sidney Marsh Mystery #1

Publisher: Camel Press

Publication Date: April 1, 2012

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SUMMARY: Travel agents are a vanishing breed, but Sidney Marsh, a New York transplant from Mississippi, is holding her ground--at least on land. She is the tour leader on a cruise through Scandinavia for a group of eccentric senior citizens who call themselves the High Steppers. Sidney expects her days to be filled with long meals, shopping expeditions and visits to museums, churches and fjords. But this cruise is anything but routine. There is a killer on board, targeting the High Steppers and quite possibly herself.
After the first suspicious death, the captain and his crew are grimly determined to carry on as usual. Disgusted with their inaction, Sidney decides to take matters into her own hands and launch her own investigation. She enlists the halfhearted help of her friend and business partner, the flamboyant and fun-loving Jay Wilson. Suspects abound. What about those two handsome young men who stay mysteriously aloof? One of them has his eye on Sidney. So does another passenger, far too charming and again too young to fit the "High Stepper" mold. Then there's Captain Vargos, the arrogant ladies' man whose plans to thwart Sidney's investigation might include seduction.
Who is that crew member shadowing Sidney? Is the theater really haunted? Even the High Steppers themselves are not as predictable or harmless as they seem. The closer Sydney gets to the truth, the less she understands. Shore Excursion is the first book in a new mystery series featuring amateur sleuth Sidney Marsh.

REVIEW 

Shore Excursion by Marie Moore is what would have happened if Nancy Drew had decided to become a travel agent. When Sidney Marsh set out as tour leader on a cruise, she had no idea what she was actually going to stumble across. When one of her High Steppers, the group she is leading on vacation, is obviously a victim of murder, Sidney is forced to take find out what really happened. The captain, the on-board doctor, and the whole cruise line refuse to acknowledge foul play, and write it off as suicide, it really is all up to Sidney.

The problem with trying to find a killer that no one wants to acknowledge even exists is that finding out information is difficult. It is even harder if all the officials are trying to cover up the crime, and blocking any investigation at all points. For Sidney, she also has to battle her attraction to the person standing in the middle of her investigation.

Sidney Marsh is stubborn and sassy, and I love it. Sidney loves her job as a travel agent, and she gets to visit amazing cities throughout the world. The price for doing what she loves is that she has to chauffeur a group of elderly travelers called the High Steppers. She is not doing this alone, she has her co-leader Jay working with her. He is big, and flamboyant and very funny.

I love the way Marie Moore writes Sidney, and expresses her determination to find out what is happening on her cruise. About the time I thought I knew what was going on, the story takes a twist I did not see coming. Growing up a fan of Nancy Drew, I really love a good mystery with a few twists, and Marie Moore pulls it off wonderfully. I recommend this book to any mystery fans, especially those of us who grew up on Nancy Drew.

**Unabridged Bookshelf received this book from Tribute Books, in exchange for an honest review**

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shore Excursion is Marie Moore’s first novel, but not her first writing experience, and like Sidney Marsh, she is a native Mississippian. She graduated from Ole Miss, married a lawyer in her hometown, taught junior high science, raised a family, and worked for a small weekly newspaper, first as a writer and later as Managing Editor. She wrote hard news, features and a weekly column, sold ads, did interviews, took photos, and won a couple of MS Press Association awards for some of her stories.

In 1985, Marie left the newspaper to open a retail travel agency. She completed agency and computer training with Airlines Reporting Corporation, Delta Airlines and TWA, earned her CTC (Certified Travel Counselor) designation, and joined the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), International Air Transport Association (IATA), and Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). For the next 15 years, she managed her agency, sold travel, escorted group tours, sailed on 19 cruises, and visited over 60 countries. Much of the background of Shore Excursion comes from that experience.

Marie also did location scouting and worked as the local contact for several feature films, including Heart of Dixie, The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag, and Robert Altman’s Cookie’s Fortune.

In mid-1999, because of her husband's work, Marie sold the travel agency and moved to Jackson, MS, then New York City, Anna Maria Island, FL, and Arlington, VA. She and her husband now live in Memphis, TN and Holly Springs, MS.

Marie is a member of Sisters in Crime. 

To learn more about Marie and her upcoming novels, Visit her website

www.mariemooremysteries.com

What do you think of a travel agent turned amateur detective?


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